Dallas Cowboys Blog

Cowboys Jason Garrett concerned new rule aimed at RBs will be “a hard rule to officiate”

Running backs will be on notice this season. If they deliver a blow or initiate contact with the crown of their helmet, it will be a penalty.

Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith has chimed in on the rule, calling it ridiculous. Stephen Jones, the Cowboys chief operating officer and a member of the competition committee that helped write the new standard, obviously disagrees and believes it will be good for the league.

What does Cowboys coach Jason Garrett think?

“It’s really a tricky thing from the standpoint of it’s so well-intended,’’ Garrett said. “I think the league, coaches, players, we all value the health and safety of our players, maybe above anything else. You want to make sure you implement rules that can help advance that.’’

The change is designed to take the head out of these collisions and encourage players to use their shoulders. A random review of two, separate weeks of the 2012 season found a this penalty would only have been called a total of 11 times.

Still, there will be a learning curve for players and coaches. The league office will send tapes to all the clubs later this week illustrating what is and isn’t acceptable.

“A lot of the defenseless players calls they’ve had to make over the last couple of years, they’re hard calls,’’ Garrett said before the rule passed by a 31-1 vote. “The game happens fast and they’ve got to be bang, he hit him with his head first, it wasn’t his shoulder.

“Players duck. All the things that go into making those snap judgments, they’re difficult, and I think that’s the real concern that the coaches might have. It’s a hard rule to officiate.’’

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